Life Ain't Always Beautiful
by jessid111590
Summary: Derek says something really stupid without thinking and Garcia isn't going to let him back in as easily as she had in the past. The rest of the team knows they need to help their resident tech and resident player get together.
1. Chapter 1

**(AN: I don't own the rights to Criminal Minds or its characters. I also don't own rights to Life Ain't Always Beautiful by Gary Allen. This prompt came from Daisya'gel's Country Song Prompt Challenge: Pick a Pair challenge assignment)**

"Seriously, Pen, what happened to you and Lynch?" Derek says without thinking.

Everyone just stared as Penelope ran from the bull pen. No one could believe what Morgan had just said to her. In fact, Derek couldn't believe what just came out of his mouth. It was something that he didn't even know where it came from. He was in big shit now. He knew he was lucky when he didn't get slapped across the face and when Rossi didn't pounce on him.

Penelope was mortified. Her best friend had said something just so mean and vile to her. She had just asked him if he would just be her date to Agent Samuel's Halloween party/dance. She thought that since she knew he wasn't seeing anyone and the fact that he was her best friend that he would willingly accept instead of go to the party stag; but then again Derek could now hit on all the eligible ladies. As she grabbed her stuff to leave for the day, because she couldn't deal with Derek anymore today, JJ tries to stop her but knows that it most likely wouldn't work. Derek tries to stop her as she gets into the elevator but the doors close just before he gets there.

_Life ain't always beautiful  
>Sometimes it's just plain hard<br>Life can knock you down, it can break your heart  
>Life ain't always beautiful<em>

Hotch just looks at the scene before him. He can't believe what Derek had said. Sure, Penelope hadn't told Derek that she and Lynch had split up a little over a month ago; but everyone had told her that she needed to tell Derek. He knew that she had asked him because she wanted to tell him what he truly meant to her. Thank God Rossi didn't hear the exchange was the thought on Hotch's mind. Hotch hated a hurting Garcia but Rossi, oh, Rossi would have torn Derek a new one even if they were on the same team.

As Derek sits down at his desk to think about what made him say what he said, JJ, Emily, and Reid just stare at him. JJ and Emily had managed to get Penelope to tell them what happened between her and Lynch and about her feelings for Derek. Reid was just surprised at what had happened but he knew that Derek was totally in the wrong with what he said; he just didn't know how much Derek was in the wrong. Derek looks over at Emily that is until he sees the look that she is giving him. She couldn't believe that he thought she would be willing to help him. Penelope was just as much her friend as Derek was, maybe even more. As he looks over at JJ, he sees the same expression and knows they aren't going to help him at all. Damn, he really needed to fix this before the party next week.

Rossi steps out of his office and sees the looks that everyone, even Hotch, was giving Derek. He then realized that Penelope had finally worked up the courage to ask Derek about the party. By the looks that the team was given Derek, he judged that Derek had done something stupid. He knew something was wrong when Hotch looked at him with a worried look and he knew right away that Hotch wanted him to go check on Penelope. He mouths to Hotch, "Where is she?"

Hotch walks over to tell Rossi what happened and to get him to forget about Derek for a bit to check on Penelope.

"She ran and got her stuff before leaving," Hotch says.

"What the hell happened?" Rossi asks. "She said she was going to ask him when she got a chance today."

"Oh she asked him," Hotch says looking down at the bull pen. "But evidently she didn't take either of our advice and tell him about her and Lynch."

"Since he didn't know, he overreacted, right?" Rossi asks.

"Sort of. He said 'Seriously, Pen, what happened to you and Lynch?' He said it without thinking about the possible consequences," Hotch says as he heads into his office. "Don't go talk to him. Go make sure Penelope is alright. Check the parking lot and her house."

"Fine but warn him that he's in big trouble with me the next time I see him," Rossi says as he grabs his things to leave for the day. "I take it everyone isn't too happy with him today by the looks he's getting at least from the girls."

"The girls know what's going on, I don't know when she told them, and had even helped her get things planned for today and next week; but who knows what is going to happen now," Hotch says as he looks out at the bull pen and the rest of the team again.

Penelope was driving home and trying to figure out exactly what she wanted to say to that dickhead best friend of hers when he decides to show his face anywhere near her. She thought that he had figured out that Kevin and her had split since Kevin hadn't been coming around. Hell, everyone else had figured it out with the exception of Derek and Dr. Reid. Hotch and Rossi were the first ones to ask what had happened, then the girls. She wasn't even completely sure that Reid didn't know. She thought since Derek and her were spending more time together that he had actually figured it out and decided that she would come to him when she wanted to talk about it. The words that he had said and the way he had said them still rang in her ears. She realized that it would have been better to take boss man's advice and telling him two weeks ago instead of just asking him to go with her.

Derek just sat at his desk staring at the papers that were on it. When it hit 3:30 he couldn't take sitting at his desk and shuffling papers around, so he grabbed his stuff and left. He didn't know where he was headed but he truly doubted that Penelope would speak to him let alone see him. Was he wrong in brining Lynch into the conversation? He thought that Penelope would have told him if they had broken up and she hadn't said anything to make him think any different. Sure she had made time to spend with him, more time than usual, but never told him that something was going on, let alone that she and Lynch had broken up.

That's why he was surprised when she came and asked him if he wanted to go to the party together. Hell, he definitely wanted to go to the party with her but he wanted to know why she wasn't going with her boyfriend. He had noticed that Lynch hadn't been accompanying Penelope to events that he normally would have but he just put it off as Lynch having to work. Maybe that wasn't it?

Had something happened and he just not notice? She didn't change much, she still acted like the same Penelope he had grown to love over the past 5 years. Wouldn't she have told him if something had happened? He had always told her that he would be here for her no matter what and he had meant it. If something had happened, why the hell hadn't she told him? Why was it that everyone else knew what was going on besides him?

As he headed to his place, he knew that he was going to have to find some way to talk to her without the boss man and Rossi getting mad at him, more than they already were. Maybe Clooney could be of some help. He sits inside his truck in his drive way typing a text message to her: "Pen, I didn't mean it the way it sounded. I just thought that you and Lynch were going to be going together. Please, let me try to fix this. Let's do dinner and a movie, please."

She's driving to the grocery store to get dinner when she receives his text message. She couldn't believe what he was asking her. She thought, "dinner and a movie when I'm pissed off at him, hell no." As she sits in the parking lot at the grocery store she typed this message: "Sorry Sweetness already have other plans for the night." She knows she shouldn't have but she didn't want to have to deal with him right now. After gathering things to cook herself a nice dinner, she drives home to find Rossi sitting outside her building.

"Thank God. You had me worried, hun," Rossi says as he helps her gather her groceries.

"Thanks. I just needed to get away. Want to help me with dinner?" she asks. "I take it Hotch asked you to check on me because of my dickhead of a best friend?"

"Yes to both. So have you talked to Derek since?" Rossi asks as he gets a few pans out to start cooking.

"He sent me a text message asking me to talk to him and to do a dinner/movie night. I told him I had other plans, which I do and now they include you," She says as she grabs a cutting board to start cutting vegetables.

"From that smile that just graced your lips, I take it you have plans for dealing with the way Derek reacted earlier," Rossi says as he oils the pan for the vegetables to go in.

"Oh I have a few things planned and he's totally not going to know what hit him," Penelope says as she thinks about what is going to happen over the next few days. "You are staying for dinner, right?"

"I wouldn't leave for anything, darling," Rossi says as he throws the vegetables into the pan.

After that being said, they continue to work on dinner in silence.

Derek knew she had said she had plans but he wanted to know who she had plans with. He saw Esther sitting in her normal spot but he also saw a black SUV right next to her car. He knew Lynch never drove an SUV and the team had all decided to go out after the long day they had. So who the fuck was with her? Derek was still sitting outside her place 30 minutes later, when Rossi walked out after giving Penelope a goodnight kiss. Derek was fine when he saw that it was just Rossi. He knew about how Penelope was like a daughter to Rossi and he was like a father to her. Little did he know that she had spotted him and was inside grabbing the rest of the cake that was from dessert that evening.

He doesn't even realize that Penelope was almost on him as she sends the cake flying inside his truck and walks back into her house. The thought on her mind was "that'll teach him to stop checking up on me constantly." Rossi had seen the exchange and just laughed as Derek started wiping the frosting off of his face. Derek looks over and sees Rossi laughing at him and then he looks up at his best friend's front door and sees her just waving back at him before closing the door. For the second time that day Derek was left wondering about what had changed in his best friend.

Penelope just waved at him as he looked over at her. She knew he was going to be pissed off at her but he deserved it. Coming to check up on her was normal but she was still pissed off at what had happened at work. She knew he was going to want to talk to her tomorrow but she had other plans since he had to be an ass and ask why she wasn't going with Lynch. She couldn't wait until tomorrow to start on her plans, as she got her outfit ready for the next day. Trying to get any sleep that night was futile she was so ready for the day to begin.

As she twisted and turned in her bed, she realizes that she isn't getting any sleep and decides to take a bath before getting ready for work. As she gets out of the bath tub she looks at her clock and realizes that it is only about 7 am and she doesn't need to go into the office until about 9:20; to make her grand entrance. She looks at her phone before heading to watch a little TV. She sees that she has one message from Derek that says: "Hey Baby Girl, want to do breakfast this morning before heading into work?" As she sits down and logs into her computer, she sees another message from Derek asking her the same thing. She finally types him a text saying: "Sorry Hot stuff. I have some online shopping to do for the Halloween party next week."

**~Wednesday Morning~**

At about 8:00, Penelope starts to work on her makeup and hair to get it just right. As she curls her hair into ringlets, she's thinking about how happy she is that the girls managed to talk her into wanting to go to this Halloween party. At about 8:45 she leaves her apartment to head to work. As she drives into her spot at work she sees that Derek is already there and then she notices an unwelcome surprise heading towards her car as she gets out.

"Penny, can we talk about us, please?" Kevin Lynch says as he walks up next to her.

"Kevin, there is nothing to talk about. I've finally decided that I wasn't putting my all into our relationship because I am never going to give up on my job to leave and go where you want me to," she says as she grabs her bag and heads toward the doors to get her away from her irrational ex. "I'm finally going after what I want in my life. Now, goodbye."

"Penelope, don't you dare walk out on me," Kevin says as she swipes her card to get into the building.

"I walked out on you a month and a half ago when I found out you were sleeping around. There is nothing that you can do to make me change my mind," Penelope says as she closes the doors to the elevators.

JJ sees the tension just rolling off of Penelope as she walks into the bull pen. This was not how the day was supposed to start off. She was supposed to be teasing Derek with her outfit not just brushing past everyone, heading to her lair. JJ walks out to the car park and sees the reason for Penelope's bad mood leaving. As she walks back into the bull pen, the rest of the team is looking at her to give them some sort of explanation. When Derek sees her face, he heads down to see what is going on with Penelope.

"Hey, sweetness, you in there? What's going on?" Derek asks as he knocks on Penelope's door.

"Yes, I'm in here. Nothing is going on. I'm working on a search for another team and don't want to be disturbed right now, Derek," Penelope says as she locks her door.

As he heads back to the bull pen, he thinks about how her mood had changed since she texted him earlier, from playful to downright pissed off.

"JJ, do you know what is going on with Penelope?" he asks as he sits down to finish a little bit of paperwork.

"All I know is that someone surprised her as she was coming into work this morning," JJ says as she heads back to her office to look at possible cases.

Derek looks at Emily to see if she has an answer to his question but knows that she wouldn't since she had been in here with the rest of them. Derek sees Rossi looking in the direction of Penelope's lair and tells him that she doesn't want to be disturbed while doing a search. What Derek said to him doesn't deter him from going to check on her. He knows that she doesn't want to talk to Derek right now and that the girls will get everything out of her later but he wants to know what is going on now.

"Pen, you ok in there?" Rossi asks.

"I'm fine," she says as she opens the door to him. "Just got a visit from my ex that has me in a bad mood right now."

"So plans still in action, just give you a little time to cool down?" He asks as he looks at her computer screens.

"Yea that is if you guys don't get a case," she says as she continues to type on her laptop.

"So what did Kevin have to say?" Rossi asks knowing that she needs to talk so that her plan will work.

"He wanted me to take him back and to talk to him about our relationship," she says. "The same stuff that I've been getting from him, in emails, since the day I walked out. Nothing that I can't handle."

"Ok, if you need anything you know where to find me," he says as he steps out and shuts her door.

Derek is waiting in Rossi's office when Rossi gets back there.

"So what's going on?" Derek asks trying to figure out what has been happening with his baby girl for the last few weeks.

"Nothing that she hasn't had to handle before. Derek, she's fine. Just give her a little space for a few hours," Rossi says as he leads Derek to the door to head into the bull pen.

Just as Derek hits his desk, JJ comes to tell them they have a case. Reid is the one who goes down to get Penelope to go over the case file. As she sits down, next to Derek, she feels all eyes on her wanting her to explain what was going on earlier. She just shakes her head to let everyone know that there is nothing to talk about. JJ starts to go on with telling everyone about the case but Penelope still feels Derek's stare on her face. Penelope just stares ahead and takes notes on her tablet.

"Pssss," Derek says trying to get Penelope's attention to talk to her. "Pssss."

JJ notices what Derek is trying to do as Hotch takes over filling in the extras on this case.

"Penelope, you are going to be needed with us on this case," Hotch says before telling everyone to grab their ready bags. "Everyone meet at the airstrip in one hour."

"UHH, sure. But I have to stop at home first since I don't have a bag with me today," she says as she walks to her office to grab her stuff before leaving to get her ready bag.

"Hey want me to pick you up after I grab my bag?" Derek asks Penelope as she walks out to her car.

"Sure," she says as she gets into her car to leave.

As she pulls into her driveway, she sees that Lynch was sitting outside of her place waiting for her.

"Seriously, what the hell don't you get about me telling you to leave me alone?" Penelope says as she walks up to her apartment. "I don't want to see you let alone talk to you about our past relationship, which has been over for a month now. Leave me the hell alone."

"Penny, please, let's talk about this." Kevin says as Penelope opens her door.

"I said I don't want to see you and there is no way in hell I want to talk to you. Now leave because I only came home to pack for a case and my ride will be here in about 30 minutes," she says as she closes her front door in his face.

As she runs around trying to gather all the necessary things to continue teasing Derek for the rest of the week, she hears that Kevin is still outside her apartment talking to the door. She sends a text to Derek asking him if he would mind going to the back of her apartment building instead of the front because of Kevin. When Derek arrives, he sends a text to Penelope to tell her that he was there. He still didn't understand why she wanted him to pick her up behind her building, it wasn't like her to come out that way. As she's coming out, he realizes that she doesn't have a bag instead she has a big suitcase.

"Hey, where's your ready bag, goddess?" he asks as he gets out to put the suitcase in the back of his SUV.

"The suitcase is what I'm taking. It has my computer instead of me carrying an extra bag," she says as she looks back towards the complex.

"Everything ok, sweetness?" he asks.

"Yup," she says.

The SUV is quiet as both are off in their own worlds on the way to the airstrip. Derek is still trying to figure out why Penelope wanted him to pick her up out back and how she has changed in the past month. Penelope is thinking of how to put her plan into action with being out on a case but she knows that she will totally have the girls helping her. Now if only Kevin would get that she is done with him and leave her the hell alone. As they arrive at the airstrip, they see that they are the last two to show up. All the guys stare as Penelope grabs her suitcase out of the back of the SUV as the girls head onto the plane. Hotch and Rossi look over at Derek who just shrugs and grabs his stuff to head onto the plane. Reid is the one who finally gets the nerve up to ask Penelope why she was taking a huge suitcase instead of her normal ready bag on this case.

"I'm taking this instead of carrying three separate bags. This has my computer and my clothes in it," she says as she climbs into the plane.

As Reid ponders this, one thought comes up in his mind, "you're still going to have 2 bags to carry to the field office while we are here."

"Yea but the suitcase makes it easier on me for the flight to and from where we are going," she says as she takes her laptop out of the suitcase to start working on the case.

As the rest of the males make it on board, they all see Penelope sitting there waiting for the rest of them to take their seats so that they can start going over things for the case. The two other girls just laugh at the reactions of the guys when they see Penelope already for action.

**Please Review**


	2. Chapter 2

**(AN: This is the final part to my Pick a Pair challenge assignment from Daisyangel's Country Song Prompt challenge. As stated in the first part I don't own rights to anything (Criminal Minds or Life Ain't Always Beautiful by Gary Allen.)**

**Fast Forward to Tuesday~**

Penelope had just finished putting her final outfit, to tease Derek with, on and was just about to head down to breakfast when her cell phone goes off. As she grabs it, she sees the number and knows that today was about to go to hell even if she didn't answer the call. If she doesn't answer now, he's just going to keep calling her cell and the rest of the team. And if she does answer, he's going to want her to come back instead of working out in the field with the team. He'll also expect her to be his girlfriend again when they get back and there is no way that she wants to deal with his issues again; so she just turns her phone on silent and heads down to breakfast. Everyone except for Derek knows that she and Kevin aren't together and that she has no interest in going back to him.

As she walks into the breakfast area, she feels everyone's eyes on her but she doesn't look into anyone but Derek's eyes. As she sits down, the waiter comes over and asks her what she will be having for breakfast. She orders her regular, which is a plain bagel with peanut butter on the side and a cup of coffee. As the waiter goes to get her breakfast, she checks her phone and sees that she has a text message and a voicemail; both of them are from Kevin. Everyone notices the shift in Penelope's mood but they all know not to ask; if she wants them to know she will tell them. The girls get a knowing look and the guys just go back to talking about something that was on TV the night before when everyone came back to the hotel.

As the day drags on, Penelope keeps getting calls and texts from Kevin and the girls are also getting them because Penelope won't answer on her phone. The team manages to catch the guy but it takes a lot of effort on everyone's part. Penelope is happy that the team didn't get hurt and that they were finally heading home but she knows once she gets home that Kevin is going to be there wanting to talk to her. Rossi can see the tension that has made its way onto Penelope's face for the entire airplane ride home. He knows that he has to get Kevin to leave her alone because he isn't what she wants; hell he has never been what she wanted. He calls Kevin and tells him that he needs to talk to him once they get back to the office to do paperwork.

As they arrive back at the airstrip, Penelope gets into the SUV with JJ and Emily so that they can head to the office to finish up paperwork. They can see that she isn't thrilled with going back to the office because Kevin was most likely going to be there. When they get there Kevin is waiting in the bull pen but he's not there to see her, in fact he heads up to Rossi's office instead of talking to anyone. That surprised Derek because Kevin would normally give Penelope a kiss and say hi and it surprised Penelope because he would be begging for her to get back together with him. The rest of the team just watches as Hotch and Rossi head into Rossi's office. Penelope is the first one to leave to head to her office to finish up her paperwork; no one even knows that she is gone until they turn around to head to their desks to finish their work.

After finishing her paperwork, Penelope heads up to Hotch's office to see if she can borrow an SUV to get home for the night. When she gets inside she sees that Rossi was also in there and they both look like they want to talk to her.

"Hey, is there any way I could take an SUV to get home tonight?" she asks before sitting down in front of Hotch's desk.

"Sure but before you leave we need to talk about you and Kevin," Hotch says. "He told us that you had told him that you wanted to get back together with him once we all got back from this last case. Is that true?"

"What the hell? Hotch, you know me. Would I have ever said that after all the shit that Kevin has put me through when it comes to this team?" she says as the anger starts to rise in her. "Seriously, where is that jackass? He thinks that I want to get back together with him, he's about to get a reality check."

"Pen, calm down. We do know you and know you would never say that after everything," Rossi says as he sits her back in the chair. "And you don't have to worry about Kevin he's been transferred out of the country."

"You couldn't even let me kick his ass, damn. Thanks guys. I'll see you guys tomorrow," she says as she grabs a set of keys to leave.

"Actually we all are off until Monday, but I'll definitely see you at the Halloween party on Friday night. Hotch isn't sure if he's coming yet," Rossi says.

"Ok, see you guys Friday then and you'd both better be dressed up, for Halloween not work," she says as she walks out of Hotch's office. "And yes I will have a babysitter over at your house, Hotch, to watch Jack by 6 p.m. So you are coming."

As she goes to leave the building, she sighs a big sigh of relief when she sees that no one is waiting for her out by the SUV's. That is until she shuts the backdoor after placing her suitcase inside; that's when Derek surprises her.

"Where are you heading, sweetness?" Derek says as he opens the passenger door for her to get into.

"Home, handsome. Time for a long bath and then my own bed," she says as she climbs in and hands Derek the keys to the SUV.

"How about I drop you off at your place, so you can take your bath, and I will run to the grocery store and pick up things to make you dinner and then we watch a movie?" Derek says as he heads toward her apartment.

"Ok with me," she says as she relaxes into the seat of the SUV.

As he pulls up to her apartment building, he looks over at Penelope, who has fallen asleep on the way home from the office. Derek knows better than to wake her up after a hard case so he gently picks her up and carries her to her apartment. As he sets her down on her bed, he realizes that there was a sticky note taped to her door as they came in. He goes and gets the note and places it on the nightstand next to Penelope's bed, after reading it. He also leaves her a note telling her to call him later so that they could do dinner and a movie before they head back to work on Monday. He remembers her mentioning that she had some online shopping to get done but is curious to know what she got. As he head back out to the SUV, he wonders if the girls know what she was shopping for online.

**~The next day~**

Penelope is surprised when she looks at the clock before getting out of bed then she remembers that the entire team has the rest of the week off. As she climbs out of bed, she notices that there are two notes on the bedside table for her; one from her neighbor and the other from Derek. As she stretches and looks in the mirror, she sees that she is still dresses in the same clothes that she wore to work yesterday. She decides to head next door before taking a shower so that she can see what else she needs to get for her costume for the party on Friday. As she lays the pieces of her costume out on her bed, she realizes that she still needs high heels, some special makeup, and hair dye. She is especially thankful when she sees that they also had the mask that she needed. She decides that after her shower, she will call JJ and Emily and see if they wanted to do a little shopping for the party.

After a very relaxing shower, she calls Derek and thanks him for getting her home last night and that she'd love to do dinner and a movie but it was going to have to be on Thursday night. Then she calls the girls to see if they want to come shopping with her to get things for Friday; they both say yes because they want to see what each other is going to be wearing. She tells them to bring what they have over and that when they leave to go shopping they will take the SUV that Emily is currently using. Thank God that they had also agreed to get ready at Penelope's apartment before the party since it was closer than the other two's apartments. She continues to look at her costume hoping that this will finally tell Derek what she wants.

When she looks at the clock for a second time that day, she realizes that she needs to get something to eat before the girls show up. Just as she moves toward the kitchen, she hears a horn honk and looks outside to see the girls pulling into the parking lot. She rushes out to help them with their bags. And boy is she glad she did when because both girls have like 3 to 4 bags a piece.

"Damn and I thought I had a lot for this party," Penelope says before closing the back door and heading into her apartment.

"Yea, well, you actually know exactly what you're going to wear because you fell in love with your costume a few months ago," JJ says as she grabs two of her bags out of the car. "I have three things that I could go as and accessories for each one."

"Same here," Emily says as she pushes Penelope's apartment door open. "Did your costume come in? Derek called us and asked us what you were shopping for online last night. And before you say anything, we didn't tell him anything because we haven't really seen what it looks like."

"Yes my costume came in. I have it lying out on my bed. Go have a look," Penelope says as she sets the bags, that she carried in, down. "When you get done in there come out here and line each of your costumes up with everything that goes with them so I can see everything put together."

"Pen, that looks great. What else do you have to get?" JJ says as they both come out of the bedroom.

"I have to get some heels, some makeup and hair dye," Penelope says as they set out their outfits.

"Why do you need the hair dye? I thought you were going to leave your hair platinum blond that it is right now," Emily says as she finishes laying out her first outfit.

"I was going to then I decided to dye it black before going to the party so that it matches my costume," Penelope says as she looks over the girl's first outfits.

JJ's first pick was a sexy witch costume. The dress was black and could be worn several different ways. It fell to just above the knee with slits along the bottom. The accessories were a black hat, black fingerless gloves, black stockings, black high heels, and a small witch's broom.

Emily's first pick was a sexy Egyptian queen costume. The dress was white and long. The accessories were a collar, headband, cuff bracelets, and gold high heeled sandals.

"I really like your first picks girls but I want to see the rest of them," Penelope says as the girls get their second outfits out.

JJ's second pick was a Renaissance pirate wench costume. The dress was a long, pheasant dress with a boned bodice. The accessories were an apron, a braided rope, and clear high heels.

Emily's second pick was a ladies Medusa costume. The dress was short, light up with an attached cape and arm bands. The accessories were a snake head piece and gold goddess heels.

"Both of you headed in opposite directions for this second look. I really like all of them so far," Penelope says as the girls get their final costumes.

JJ's third pick was a natural goddess costume. The dress was short in some areas and long in others. The accessories were a headpiece and gold heels.

Emily's third pick was a Snow White costume. The dress was short dress with a petticoat, lace up corset, and a detachable cape. The accessories were a bow headband and red heels.

"I think I'm going to have to choose both of your third choices. I'm doing this because I think these both fit each of yours style and plus they will look great on you guys," Penelope says. "Ok, let's go and finish shopping and then we'll come back here to watch some movies and have dinner."

As they are out shopping, they see Derek and Reid looking at Halloween costumes at the local store that comes in for Halloween. They just laugh as they head past the store because the girls had already gotten their costumes and the guys won't even know what they are coming dressed up as.

"I have to make a phone call to make sure that the other people that I invited have costumes," Penelope says as they sit down on a bench to finish eating their pretzels. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

She calls Hotch since he would be the only one who would show up at this party out of costume.

"Penelope, did something happen?" Hotch asks as he answers the phone.

"Well, hello to you too. I was calling to ask if you had a costume to wear tomorrow night," she says as she walks around.

"No and I'm not getting one. I'm coming dressed to the party how I would dress for a normal day at work," Hotch says as he watches Jack play outside with his cousin.

"Aaron Hotchner, you are not coming to this party how you would dress for work. You and I are going to go shopping tomorrow and Jack can come with and get a costume for his class party next week. Meet me at my apartment at 10:30 tomorrow," Penelope says before she hangs up the phone.

"So do they have costumes yet?" JJ asks as Penelope starts walking towards them.

"One of them does but the other doesn't so I'm taking him out shopping tomorrow so that he is ready for the party on Friday," Penelope says as the girls throw their wrappers away and start to head to the shoe store.

After a very eventful night of shopping, Penelope had managed to get everything for Friday. Now all she had to do was figure out what would be a good costume for Hotch to try on the next day.

**~Thursday~**

Hotch makes sure to show up to Penelope's apartment on time because she likes people being prompt. He and Jack head up to knock on the door just as it opens and Penelope steps out with a smile on her face.

"Hey, you two, ready for this shopping experience?" Penelope asks as they all get back into the SUV. "So what do you want to be for Halloween, Jack?"

"I want to be a cowboy, I think," Jack says as he buckles himself into his booster seat.

"Did daddy tell you he is also getting a costume today?" Penelope asks as Hotch pulls out of the parking lot.

"Daddy's going trick-or-treating with me?" Jack asks.

"Yes, I'll take you out trick-or-treating as long as we don't have a case," Hotch says with a serious face before it breaks into a smile. "I'm seriously going to get you for this, Pen."

"Yea, you say that now but just wait until tomorrow night," she says, with a grin, as she looks out the window.

As they pulled in the parking lot of the Halloween superstore, Jack started to get really giddy.

"I just thought of the way I can make you and the entire team pay for making me dress up for this party. You are all going to come trick-or-treating with Jack and I Halloween night," Hotch says as they get out of the car.

"Auntie Pen and everyone else is going to come trick-or-treating too?" Jack asks as they enter the store.

"I'll let you tell the rest of the team that when we meet up at the party tomorrow night," Penelope says as they start to look at costumes for Jack.

After a half an hour and twenty costumes later, they had finally managed to get Jack to choose what he wanted to be.

"Now it's time for you to help me find daddy a costume to wear when we all go out trick-or-treating," Penelope says.

"Ok, auntie Pen," Jack says as they head to the adult sizes section of the costumes.

After another half an hour, they finally have two costumes that are ready to be paid for.

"See, now, that wasn't so bad was it?" Penelope asks as Hotch pays for their costumes.

"No, I guess not," Hotch says as they walk out to the SUV.

**~Friday afternoon~**

Penelope had just finished dying her hair when her doorbell rang. She knew it was the girls coming so they could watch Halloween movies before getting ready for the party.

"I'm coming, just give me a minute," she says as she wraps her hair in a towel to keep the hair dye from running and ruining her clothes. "Hey girls, ready for a fun night?"

"So what are the guy's costumes for tonight? Do they match up with ours or no?" JJ says as they bring in their bags to get ready for the party. "Let's see what your hair looks like dyed black."

"I have only seen one of the guys costumes for tonight since I had to help that one pick it out. So I really don't know if they will match up with what we're going to be wearing," Penelope says as she unwraps her hair from the towel to show the girls what it looks like. "So what movies did you guys get to watch before we get ready for the party?"

"Well most of them are horror movies like you asked for but there are a few other kinds too. Have a look and then decide which one we are watching first," Emily says as she hands the bag of movies to Penelope. "Your hair looks great like that."

After a few hours of watching movies, the girls start to get ready around 5 so that they could leave before 7 to get to the party on time. As they show up at the party, Penelope starts to freak out because of what Morgan had said last week.

"Maybe this was a bad idea; the costume, the hair, asking Derek, not finding another date," Penelope says as they sit in the car.

"Pen, relax and calm down. There are going to be so many people here tonight, it's not like it's just our team and a few others. Agent Samuel's had invited everyone from the FBI that lives in the state. Your costume and hair are just perfect so stop worrying about that. Stop worrying about Derek. I have a bet for you about that one. I bet that as soon as Derek finds you, he'll be dragging you out of there and take you home," JJ says as they calm Penelope down.

"Besides no one is going to know it's you right away because of your mask," Emily says trying to get Penelope to calm down. "And to go with JJ's bet, if you would have invited someone else, Derek would have kicked that person's ass, anyways."

"Are you willing to take that bet?" JJ asks as she climbs out of the car. "Pen, you're going to have to wait a few minutes before coming in or else the team is going to know that it's you. Emily, are you ready to head inside? We'll be waiting for you inside."

"Ok, I think I will be ok. Thanks, guys," Penelope says as the girls head towards the front door.

Just before Penelope gets out of the car her phone goes off. It's a text from Derek asking where she is.

"I'll be there in a few minutes," she says.

"I thought you and the girls were getting together earlier to get ready and come together," Derek says.

"They did come over but we each took separate cars and I had to stop to pick up something on the way," she says before putting her phone in her little coin purse.

Just before she gets out of the SUV, she pulls her mask down so that no one knows it's her until later on during the party. As she walks in, she sees lots of people there that she has never even seen. She sees that the team is standing together and knows that she can't head right over to them because it would give her away; so she walks around trying to find Agent Samuel's to thank him for even thinking about inviting her. After thanking him she decides to walk around and see how many people she actually knows from just passing them walking into and out of the building or seeing them in the elevators. As she goes over to the drink table she passes by the group and manages to catch Derek's eye. They both give each other the once over as they get drinks but both go their separate ways; she heads off to find a seat to sit and check her cell phone and he heads back towards the team.

She sees that she has a few missed texts and they are all from Derek.

"Hey, handsome, I'm already in the party but you have to find me. I may be willing to give you clues but you have to ask questions. And by the way, nice pirate costume," Penelope texts before getting up and walking around again.

"Seriously, Pen, you are in big trouble once I get my hands on you. Ok, first question, do you have a mask on?" Derek texts, trying to keep calm and play her game.

He sees someone with a mask stop and talk to JJ and Emily but still hadn't gotten an answer from Penelope about whether or not she was wearing a mask.

Penelope stops to talk to the girls and tell them about the game she's playing with Derek.

"I'll be back to talk later on. I have to go and check my phone," Penelope says as she walks away from the team.

"I am wearing a mask," she texts back to Derek as she heads outside to get some fresh air.

"Ok, are you wearing….? I don't know, Pen. Please come and talk to me," Derek texts getting upset because he wanted to see what she was dressed up as.

"Talk to the girls, they might be willing and able to help you. I'm not giving up on this little game just yet," Penelope texts as she headed back inside.

The girls look over at her when Derek asks for their help in getting Penelope to give up her little game; she just nods her head to tell them that it's ok to help him. She too is starting to hate the fact that she couldn't go and talk to everyone. She slowly takes another walk around the room before heading back outside to get some air. She feels a hand land on her shoulder and she realizes that at least one member of her team knew it was her.

"So how much longer are you going to keep this thing going?" Rossi asks as he looks back inside at the people dancing and talking.

"I don't know. I want to just go back in there and sit and talk to the rest of the team. If I do that I'm not sure how much longer I'm going to get to stay once Derek sees my outfit," Penelope says as she turns to look at the crowd.

"Yea I think your outfit is going to cause some problems and you could be right about what Derek might do when he sees that it's you dressed like this." Rossi says before heading back into the crowd. "Now might be your time to come in and talk though because it looks like JJ and Emily have Derek sandwiched out on the dance floor."

After he says that she looks and sees that the girls do have him out there so she heads inside and sits down with Rossi, Reid, and Hotch. Reid and Hotch are surprised at her outfit but tell her she looks great. As she sits down she covers pretty much everything with the cape so that when the others come back Derek won't see what she is wearing. As the girls come back to the table, Penelope sees that Derek isn't coming back with them.

"Hey, why is he standing out in the middle of the dance floor?" she asks.

"He's standing out there looking for his mysterious woman that he bumped into at the drink station since he can't find you. You are that woman, aren't you?" JJ asks before taking a drink of her beer.

"Yep, I guess it's time for me to go reveal myself," Penelope says as she looks back at Derek in the middle of the dance floor. "I'll talk to you guys later."

"Bye and have fun," Emily says before Penelope heads out on to the dance floor.

She finds a way to come up behind him to surprise him and to not show him her outfit just yet.

"Hey, handsome, looks like I'm the one to win this little game," she whispers into his ear holding him so that he can't turn around just yet. "You should have trusted your instincts earlier. I've seen you and I know you've seen me but you were thinking I was someone else."

"Ok, goddess, tell me where I have seen you tonight," Derek says playing this little game with Penelope.

"Well, we bumped into each other by the drink table then you were watching me as I was talking to the girls earlier," Penelope says before letting Derek turn around and look at her.

"Oh God Sweetness, you look totally delicious but I think it's time for the two of us to get out of here," he says as he gets a good look at what she is wearing.

"I was kind of hoping that we could dance a little before leaving," she says as she slowly rocks into him.

They danced for a few songs but Penelope could see that Derek was trying very hard to keep his hands off of her; so she decides to go tell everyone good night and then leave. Derek meets her outside and pulls her in between his truck and Rossi's SUV he pulls her flush against him and kisses her.

_What a beautiful ride_

**Please Review**


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